Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, told reporters at the book presentation, “We are not fishing in the Anglican lake; proselytism is not the policy of the Catholic Church.

“But if there are people who obeying their consciences want to become Catholic, we cannot shut the door,” he said.

The movement of Anglicans to the Catholic Church is not new. And it’s not unheard of for Catholics to join the Anglican Communion.

Cardinal Kasper said, “I think there is an agreement between us and the (Anglican) Archbishop of Canterbury that we have to respect their freedom of conscience and freedom of religion.”

At the same time, he said, “we want to continue our dialogue with the Anglican Communion and there is no change in our policy, we go on in our dialogue and in November we will have our meeting” with Anglican representatives aimed at starting a new round of dialogue by the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission.

The question of Anglicans joining the Catholic Church is not a matter dealt with directly by the Christian unity council, but by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. A Catholic who wants to become an Anglican or an Anglican who wants to become a Catholic is dealing with “a matter of conscience, a question of faith that must be respected by all partners,” Cardinal Kasper said.

“Nevertheless ecumenical dialogue is not aimed at making proselytism, that is a personal decision for everybody and it’s a work of the Holy Spirit we cannot interfere with.”

4 Responses

When the ELCA began to accept beliefs I could no longer accept, i.e. abortion, homosexual pastors, I was almost churchless until I found a Lutheran reformed church. They are hard to come by, however, and I would love to be able to take Communion at a nearby Roman Catholic Church in those circumstances when a Lutheran reformed church is unavailable. I pray that some day that would become a reality.

The title of this article is misleading. Cardinal Kasper was not commenting on the special arrangement that was recently announced.

As Father Rutler pointed out, writing of the new arrangement, “The Apostolic Constitution is not a retraction of ecumenical desires, but rather is the fulfillment of ecumenical aspirations, albeit not the way most Anglican leaders had envisioned it. ”

If Father Rutler is right, then ecumenism is about bringing people into the Mystical Body of Christ, the one true Christian Church — the Catholic Church under the Pope. If ecumenism has some other agenda, then it is not seeking a “unity” that is “Christian.”

According to http://deligentia.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/247/), the Catholic Church officials are not very happy about the way Rowan Williams contacted the Vatican when he heard the news. Still, I don’t think his reaction is what obstructed the ecumenical dialogue. …